Work Text:
"Mmnn..."
"Falling asleep there Kors?"
Korsica bolted up in her seat, her sleepiness vanishing in the blink of an eye from the presence that snuck up behind her. Her Vandelay-fueled hyper vigilance thumped in her veins until her brain finally caught up, and she realized it was not her Boss snooping in her office, but Peppermint.
Breathing out a sheepish laugh, Korsica brushed a hand through her bangs, but feeling the disarray of her hair, she reached behind her to redo her ponytail entirely.
"Not asleep. Just...zoning out."
"Uh huh. Tell that to the drool on your cheek."
Cheeks burning, Korsica's dropped her elastic to smack her hand against her cheek, trying to wipe off the drool. The... drool that didn't exist.
A spark of indignant embarrassment flooded through her, and she glared at Peppermint, no dredge of fatigue left in her system. The cheeky girl only grinned back at her however, her tongue poking out slightly between her teeth in amused glee. It. Was. A little cute, admittedly.
That wasn't going to make up for the trick she played on her however.
"Do you have enough free time on your day off to come here to bully me?" Korsica asked, trying to sound more upset than she actually was, as if that would fool Peppermint in the least.
"Oh sooooo much," Peppermint drawled, leaning her hip against Korsica's desk. "So much that I even brought a little gift for your hard work."
At first Korsica thought that was sarcasm, but then she noticed that Peppermint did actually have something in her hands. A steaming cup.
Just like that, Korsica's frown (not a pout) vanished, and she looked at Peppermint in intrigue.
"A...drink?"
"Coffee, actually. I, uh, hope it tastes ok, I was kinda winging it."
Quiet, unsure what she should even say, Korsica accepted the cup from Peppermint. Looked into the cup. It was dark, but it looked like it did have something in it that wasn't just coffee.
Blowing on it cautiously, Korsica took a sip. Then she froze.
Was this—
"Notice anything?" Peppermint asked, and although she did a good job at looking calm and collected most of the time, Korsica did notice the way her leg—her good one—was bouncing and the fact that she had brought her arms behind her back the moment her hands weren't occupied.
"Yeah, ah..." Korsica shook her head, still dazed. For a second she thought she'd prove herself wrong after taking another sip of the coffee, but nope. It really was that recipe. "This is..."
"...Is it bad?" Korsica's eyes flew wide open and all of the words in her brain completely scrambled.
"N-no! It's— it's very well made," she admitted hastily.
"I just...was not expecting it. I'm...a little confused, actually."
"...Confused?"
"How did you know?"
"Pfft—" Korsica was getting tired of blushing. Why was she laughing now??
"Pepperm—"
"You thought I wouldn't notice the one, singular, non-work related tab you've had open for so long it's probably molded over?" Korsica was really envious of Chai just about now, because she did not have a scarf like his to hide her face in. She settled for taking another long sip of her coffee, though her questions weren't resolved yet.
"Then...Why?"
This time it was Peppermint's turn to look confused.
"... Becaaause......I wanted to...?"
Korsica...did not have a response to that.
The silence hung between them until, with a bemused smile, Peppermint clapped her on the shoulder.
"You do nice things for people you like. And. I figured you'd appreciate it. That's all."
"'People you like'?" Even in her daze, Korsica could not pass up the opportunity to point out Peppermint's little slip of the tongue. It gave her some time to recover while the other girl got a taste of her own medicine.
Turning an obvious shade of bright pink, Peppermint let out a nervous laugh and stepped back, her leg bouncing returning with a vengeance.
"Like friends! I like you, and we're friends! F-friend-liking! That's all!"
"Friend-liking?" Alright, Korsica might be back to enjoying herself now.
"S-shut up, you get what I mean!" Peppermint laughed, curling her hand into her hair, momentarily covering her cheeks with her fluffy locks before brushing it out of her face with a playful glare. Her cheeks were still rosy.
Korsica would forever be baffled by how comfortable socializing had turned out to be. Before meeting everyone, she never would let herself appear less than put together and on top of things. But now she can talk and joke and relate, without worrying about how it impacts their view of her. Worrying that she'll lower herself to some undesirable level.
She...truly has a much bigger debt to them than she realized at first.
"...Thank you, Peppermint."
"No problem, Kors."
"Are you really insisting on using Chai's nickname for me?"
"Do you not like it?"
"Mmm... I just think my friend-liker could think of something better."
"Pfft— alright, talk like that and I'm going to come up with something that you hate."
"I don't think I'd hate anything you come up with, but you're welcome to try." Now she has Peppermint, too. Someone who she hasn't figured out all her feelings about yet, but isn't in a rush to find out either. However long their dance around the obvious will last, it'll never stop being entertaining watching her fumble and stagger from just a few words and a clever wink.
"O-oh look at that I have a meeting I'm about to miss, gotta go!"
"Oh? Taking meetings on your day off, Peppermint? You're an even worse off workaholic than I am."
"Can't hear you!!!"
"Hehe...Hahaha!"